On the Move

52.

(UPPER City In Drent)

01. High inquisitor kelvin winced, light streamed through the open window into his eyes, he shook his head wondering what woke him at this early hour. Nock! Nock!, kelvin stumbled out of bed, he vomited into the chamber pot at the end of his bed. Kelvin dressed into his night robe and stumbled down the stairs.

02. Kelvin held his head and winced, the loud knocking came again. He opened the door and looked at a familiar young man. The young man had a letter in his hand, the well dressed young man had a big feathery hat that resembled some sort of bird covering most of his head and tassels that covered his ears. The overly dressed young man handed over the letter. He passed over a bag that clanked, the young man said," I trust you will keep my presence here between the two of us."

03. Kelvin smiled at the heft of the pouch, he replied," of course my lord". Kelvin quickly shut the door and walked over to a table. He cleared off the numerous bottles and sat. He examined the letter carefully, before cracking the seal and looking over the document inside.

(Letter)

04. illustrious high inquisitor, I bring you dire news, I have gained word of a certain establishment that could only be protecting things most foul. We believe the messengers guild in the merchants' district has been hiding the demon. I would not dare make such an accusation if it were not for the murder of my loyal guardsmen who protected me, If it were not for my loyal guardsmen I too would be dead from the feind itself. I wouldn't dare slander the name of an established guild, I do believe however that the leader of this guild is purposely hiding the young Reskeme for blasphemous reasons.

05. It was only after watching my trusted guardsmen die that I bring you the news of the demon's whereabouts, I will strongly support the destruction of the fiend Reskeme and his accomplices.

(Kelvin)

06. Kelvin roused an injured Deren, he dressed in his armour and waited for his companion. Kelvin's respect for Deren had grown greatly after he had injured and scared away the demon. Kelvin gathered guards under the authority of the church, he had a squad of 5 guards walking behind him as he walked up to the messengers' guildhall.

07. Kelvin eyed the building and wasn't impressed, the panels were outdated and the windows were unordained. He pushed open the door and walked in with the guards following him, Kelvin pulled out an artifact from his pocket and smiled. A tall imposing man stood behind front guild desk He said," can I help you, inquisitor." Kelvin said, "it appears the message wasn't lying, Guards search the building make sure no one escapes."

The guards rapidly searched the building being none too gentle with some of the fragile items. Kelvin went from room to room watching his artifact medalian the whole way. Kelvin walked into the changing room and was upset at first, he checked each set of clothes hoping the amulet would light up.

08. Just when he thought all hope was lost the amulet turned a bright red against some basic cotton clothes. Kelvin exited the room, he pointed at hank, "arrest this man immediately he has been aiding the demon." The guards took a struggling hank into custody. Hank tried to fight back, he punched one guard in the nose and one at the side but couldn't do much more against armed and armoured guards.

09. Kelvin smiled and stood in front of the bruised Hank, he said," tell us where the demon reskeme is and we may let you off with a light penalty." Hank only glared at the inquisitor, Kelvin shrugged his shoulders. He waved the guards away, Kelvin said,"take him to the church dungeons, the guards all looked at each other not budging. Kelvin said, "do it, or would you like to take his place for refusing to follow orders.?" The guards dragged away the struggling hank while Kelvin walked over to look through the stack of letters at Hank's desk.

10. Kelvin opened letter after letter, each section was labelled conveniently with names of who the letters had come from. Kelvin had to be quick, he knew that it was only a matter of time before the guild used its pull to free the guild leader hank. He didn't care he only cared to show his power to the lowly commoner.

11. Kelvin was delighted when he found the message he was searching for, Kelvin vowed he would get revenge against the foul being that attacked one of the members of the church. Kelvin left the messengers guildhall with a spring in his step, he passed guards and onlookers. Something unexpected happened, when he arrived back at his home there was no chained guild leader or guards. They were simply not there, Kelvin cursed himself, that damned guild leader must have friends in high places to convince the guards to disobey the church. Kelvin told himself it didn't matter however, he had what he needed and the demon would be tracked to whatever fortress it was hiding in.

(Reskeme POV)

12. Reskeme finally packed everything and put it on the master mage's horse. The master had two horses, one to carry things and one to ride. Reskeme vowed that one day he would be able to buy useful things like horses. He was happy that the army wasn't forcing him to pay for his own horse, He had almost fainted when Kellar told him the average cost of one of the equine animals. Reskeme was not looking forward to their journey, they hadn't received word from an outlying fortress in 2 weeks. He was concerned, the last messenger group hadn't returned.

13. Reskeme was happy to note that Carley and dusty were tagging along, they rode up beside Reskeme as he finally managed to calm his horse down enough to climb on. After the death of the 4 Darvan mages, they hadn't been attacked for several days, Reskeme and Kellar had taken this chance to rest and relax. They got orders from the commander to go and see why the northmost fortress of the human kingdom wasn't Responding. The three fortresses were going to combine all of their troops for an all-out offensive on the enemy encampment.

14. The fully supplied squad rode out of the gates following a squad of soldiers going out on patrol. The group of soldiers they were following split off as His squad headed upriver, the soldier followed down the river searching for enemies. Reskemes squad were on high alert, they could die to a scouts spear just as easy as to the magic of a mage. Reskeme was admiring the scenery, the travel had been long and slow, his two guards were on high alert. Reskeme glared down at the dog that followed happily beside Carley, his familiar was so fluffy and adorable. Carley had a smile on her face as she occasionally tossed a small piece of meat to the familiar.

15. Kellar occasionally glanced at the suspicious dog, Reskeme could tell he wanted to ask questions, Reskeme had told him the dog was his familiar and that he couldn't tell what type it was. Kellar had the look of a boy who just found the cookie jar. Reskeme simply smiled and ate his dried meat and fruit, he was travelling with no illusions discussing himself. Kellar had told him to save his mana, as there was no telling what would happen. Reskeme pulled out his mana gauge, the amulet showed that he had 85% mana. Reskeme was sure he would get to 100% by the end of the day, Dusty and Carley had dozens of questions about elementals for Reskeme, they were not impressed when all he could do to answer them was shake his head.

16. Kellar didn't have much to tell, He told about the wind elementals, Reskeme couldn't believe what he was hearing apparently there citys were surrounded by tornadoes. Reskeme had never seen a tornado, he had seen a dust devil and was trying to imagine one that was as tall as the clouds, Kellar had told him that a tornado was a wind that blew so hard it could tear apart cities. Reskeme had his doubts but didn't dare call Kellar a liar. On the second day of the journey, Reskeme was saved from taking a spear through his face by his familiar how barked loudly. Kellar had created a shield with his usual speed, Kellar had retaliated by burning the armour of the Darvan scout who could be heard yipping in a panic as it ran away.

17. Carley and Dusty Had their bows drawn, Disty missed the second scout as it ran after its retreating comrade. Carley cursed the thick brush blocked her shot so she couldn't even shoot at the damned thing. Reskeme hadn't even had the time to draw his javelin, He felt sheepish, Carley tossed the familiar another piece of meat and talked to him in a baby voice, She said," Good boy whos a good boy? you're a good boy." The Dog had done more work by warning the squad than Reskeme had, All he had done was sit there and be a target.

18. Reskeme was grumpily looking back and forth from one side of the forest to the other, he would be damned if he let them get ambushed again. Much to his surprise nothing even resembling a Darva showed itself. Reskemes legs and butt were sore, he winced every time his horse took another step. The day progressed into the night, Kellar called a halt and set Reskeme on watch as he didn't trust reskeme to even try setting up his tent. Reskeme hid in a bush and waited, they had started up the long valley between two mountains. He could only see small gaps between the trees and didn't understand why they even had someone on watch.

19. Reskeme snacked on a piece of jerky, He grumbled at the salted meat, the damned stuff was hard to chew but was tasty all the same. He had initially wanted to practice runes on his throwing knives but decided against it as in the fading light he would be easily noticed. Reskeme almost jumped out of his bush when he felt warm breath on his neck. In the fading light, he quickly turned and stared into the menacing face of his fluffy familiar. Reskeme cursed, the damned thing was way too sneaky for its own good. He said," You're going to get stabbed if you keep doing that." Reskeme got a reply, he got the impression that he couldn't stab the familiar if he didn't see it coming.

20. Kellar walked up to Reskeme who was currently glaring at the fluffy looking dog. Kellar said," what are you hiding me from seeing on your familiar." Kellar was looking at the dog and looked much too excited, Reskeme said," I'm not hiding it, Its the one creating the illusions for itself." Kellar said," fascinating, a familiar that can cast magic for itself, can the familiar do other things." Reskeme shrugged," I don't know, it has never done anything else, I don't even know what it actually looks like." Kellar didn't look convinced, He asked." Is it smart? it has been acting like a dog, but if it's using magic the familiar must just be a good actor." Kellar glared sternly at Reskeme He asked," are you sure this is your familiar.? Reskeme replied," I'm sure, I can sense its thoughts and emotions."

21. Kellar faced turned white as snow, He said," you can talk with your familiar and it talks back.?" Reskeme wasn't paying attention he said, "yes I can," Reskeme immediately realized he had made a mistake, how was he supposed to know talking familiars weren't common.